Animal feeds typically consist of a mixture of materials. For instance, a typical composition for a feed for poultry is 25% soybean meal. 50% corn, 20% byproducts suitable for animal feed and 5% minerals, vitamins, supplements and other feed additives. Feeds for other animals have different compositions, and soybean meal is one of the most important vegetable protein sources for animal feeds in general.
In order to achieve the most efficient growth of animals, the diet needs to be carefully controlled and thus the nutrient composition of the feedstuff is of high importance. However, natural raw materials have a high variation in nutrient composition. Thus, there is a tremendous need to identify ways to increase the performance of animals that is not wholly dependent on the raw materials of the feedstuff.
One approach to improving the health of animals is to alter the inhabitants of their gastrointestinal tract. Altering the inhabitants of the gastrointestinal tract of animals has been attempted by feeding direct-fed microbials to animals. A second approach to improving animal health of animals is to provide additional exogenous enzymes to the animals to aid in digestion, and increase the availability of nutrients. Methods and specific compositions that combine these two strategies would likely provide increased animal performance and would be a welcomed advance in the industry.